INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has approved a new public recognition program as part of the division’s academic reform initiative.

The team-centered public recognition program will highlight the top 10 percent of teams in each sport based on the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, or APR. The APR measures term-by-term academic progress for every student-athlete on Division I sports teams.

Walter Harrison, chair of the Committee on Academic Performance and president of the University of Hartford, said the program could include public service announcements and other ways to publicly congratulate top-performing teams.

“We think this will be a broad-based pat on the back for those teams that have done well,” said Harrison, who also serves as chair of the NCAA Executive Committee, during the board’s meeting at the NCAA Convention.

A start date has not yet been determined for the public recognition program.

The committee, known as CAP, will continue to explore additional academic incentives programs, with the goal of recommending other models during its April meeting.

CAP also will continue to develop a full historical penalty structure as part of academic reform, with the goal of making a formal recommendation to the Board of Directors no later than April.

In other business from Monday’s meeting, the Division I Board of Directors took action on several legislative proposals approved on Sunday by the Division I Management Council. The board supported a baseball proposal that among other things sets a uniform start date for the season, but many members expressed concern over the number of games played each season.

The board agreed to send out for comment to NCAA Division I colleges and universities one element of the baseball proposal, which would reduce the playing season from 56 to 52 games. That portion of the proposal was defeated by the Management Council on Sunday.

The Board of Directors noted its concern over the academic performance of baseball teams as reflected in national APR data. A final decision will be made on the proposal in April.

A full listing of legislation acted on by the Management Council and Board of Directors will be available Tuesday on the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.

In other action Monday, the NCAA Executive Committee deferred action on a mascot appeal from Bradley University until its April meeting.